Today, Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s initiative to combat global hunger and poverty, presented four agricultural innovators with its Data-Driven Farming Prize awards at a ceremony in Kathmandu, Nepal. Db2Map and PEAT won the top prize awards for the most viable solutions, receiving $100,000 each and ICT for Agriculture and Spero Analytics received prizes of $50,000 each for demonstrating significant potential, equaling a sum of $300,000 in prize awards for developing innovative solutions that help Nepal’s smallholder farmers improve productivity. Launched in February 2017 by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative, the Data-Driven Farming Prize sought tools and approaches that source, analyze, and translate data into actionable, timely, and context-specific information for smallholder farmers to improve value from agriculture productivity.

The Data-Driven Farming Prize winners who created the most viable solutions include:

Db2Map, of Nepal, for their GEOKrishi program which integrates satellite, government, and crowdsourced data into actionable advice for farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs.

The Prize attracted a total of 143 applicants from 21 countries, including 83 from Nepal. Of the 13 finalists, six were from Nepal. The Prize worked with the 13 finalist innovators to refine their products, build their networks, and ensure their solutions would meet the needs of smallholder farmers. Already, mentors, research institutes, implementers, and innovators have been building partnerships that will extend beyond the life of the Prize. Sabeen Dhanani, Deputy Coordinator, Digital Development for Feed the Future noted, “The prize was designed to help Nepali smallholders generate more in revenue from productivity gains by using the winning solutions.”

Implemented by DAI and the Challenge Prize Centre at Nesta, the Prize was delivered with the support of several partners including the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN), and theMicrosoft Innovation Center, Nepal.

Feed the Future is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Through the initiative, the United States supports country-driven approaches to address the root causes of hunger and poverty, and helps countries transform their own agricultural sectors to grow enough food to sustainably feed their people. For more information, visit www.feedthefuture.gov.